Dave Leitao, the former UConn assistant who spent more than 15 years coaching alongside Jim Calhoun, is returning as head coach of the DePaul men's basketball team, a job he held for three years in the mid 2000s.

Leitao got his start playing under Jim Calhoun at Northeastern from 1978 to 1982. Two years later, in 1984, he joined Calhoun as an assistant and followed him when Calhoun got the head coaching job at UConn in 1986.

From 1986 to 1994 he remained an assistant under Calhoun, before leaving for two seasons to be head coach for Northeastern. He returned to UConn in 1996 and spent six more seasons, including a national championship year in 1999, before taking the DePaul job.

DePaul, which joined the Big East in 2005 from Conference USA, has struggled mightily in men's basketball in recent years. The Blue Demons haven't finished above .500 since 2006-07 and in a three-year span from the 2008-09 to the 2010-11 seasons the team notched only two conference wins.

Leitao replaces Oliver Purnell, who resigned in early March after five seasons as head coach.